‘Probably hit them hard again’: Trump threatens more strikes on Iran on Wednesday
US President Donald Trump said the United States was hitting Iran hard “economically and militarily”, while praising Russia for refraining from providing greater assistance to Tehran amid the escalating conflict.
Trump defends negotiations with Putin
Trump told reporters, reiterating Washington’s opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had done little to help Iran, describing their restraint as a positive development. That’s right,” Trump said. “Well, you’ll see soon enough, because I’m trying to get a hostage that the country’s been after for a long time, and before my time,” Trump said. He said the discussions covered the Russia-Ukraine war, Iran, hostages, diesel supplies and gas pipelines. Trump said he did not want to disrupt negotiations prematurely but retained the option to withdraw if the talks failed to produce results. So, I’m not looking to break up negotiations right in the middle,” Trump said.
“We’re knocking the shit out of them, if that’s okay. And they can’t have. And they can’t have a nuclear weapon, okay? He also defended his continued negotiations with Moscow, saying diplomatic engagement was necessary to pursue agreements on Ukraine, Iran, energy supplies and the release of hostages. “Russia could have done a lot more. “Russia could have done a lot more to help, if you put it bluntly, Russia could have done a lot more to help Iran. Russia has done very little for Iran, and China could have done a lot more for Iran. “And let’s see what happens, that’ll be—that’ll be soon. The US president defended his decision to continue negotiations with Putin despite criticism from some Republican lawmakers. “And of course, we’re negotiating with him on Ukraine. “And by the way, I have the right to do that at any time immediately. So if things don’t work out, I can always do it.”